New Mexico: 50-60 Handgun Casings Found After 18 Shot During ‘Unauthorized Car Show’

Eighteen people were shot Friday night, three of them fatally, during an “unauthorized car show” in a Las Cruces, New Mexico, park, according to the Associated Press.

The three fatalities were all males aged 16, 18, and 19.

KRQE noted that police indicated “two groups…with a history of problems with each other” showed up at the car show and argument broke out, followed by gun shots. Police “estimate between 50 to 60 handgun casings have been collected” at the scene.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) expressed sorrow for the victims, adding, “These tragedies have to end. The amount of guns that find their ways into public parks and schools and churches and grocery stores and parties and cars must end.”

KFOX14 pointed out that Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story made it clear that staffing issues in his department meant no officers were on patrol in the park when the shooting erupted. He suggested the night could have gone much different if his department was fully staffed.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, a Pulsar Night Vision pro-staffer, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly: [email protected].